Competition for Authors is fierce in the Kindle Store

On July 18th 2014, Amazon unveiled a webpage for Kindle Unlimited—a subscription service where users can “enjoy unlimited access to over 600,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks on any device for just $9.99 a month”. The service named Kindle Unlimited, offers a Netflix-style, all-you-can-read approach to more than 600,000 e-books, including blockbuster series like “The Hunger Games” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” nonfiction titles like “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis, as well as literary fiction and classics. Books that can be downloaded free as part of the subscription have an orange “Kindle Unlimited” icon under the title, along with a price tag of $0.00. Kindle Unlimited will be competing with publishing start-ups offering similar services, like Scribd and Oyster.

Needless to say, the major publishers aren’t happy about embracing the new Amazon paradigm. Maybe that is because no details have emerged on how authors and publishers will be compensated. However; it’s hard to see how much revenue can actually be shared by Amazon with just a $9.99 monthly subscription.

The Amazon move is an effort to mask the fact that after years of phenomenal growth ebook sales have begun to dip. A new report from the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group confirmed that Ebook sales had flattened in 2013. In the U.S., ebook revenue in 2012 and 2013 stayed the same at about $3 billion. All of these developments are leaving self-publishing authors in a quandary as they face a tightening ebook market and one that is increasingly dictated by Amazon (45% of all ebooks worldwide as per Forrestor Research . Moreover; the mathematics of having 600,000 books on the shelf combined with a new monthly price model doesn’t bode well for authors in terms of seeing a positive monetary return on their writing efforts.

The book marketing experts at BOOKIM have a solution: use Amazon strictly for fulfillment and let BookIM do the book marketing. While ebook distribution has revolutionized the publishing industry the same cannot be said for book marketing. Many of the book advertising vehicles presently in place are stuck in a 1990’s advertising approach on how to market books. BookIM take a decidedly different approach with a series of true multi-channel direct marketing programs. Today’s book marketing campaigns require a disciplined multi-channel direct marketing campaign approach that most authors and independent publishers cannot initiate on their own. We’re talking about targeted email, PPC (pay per click), YouTube and Facebook campaigns as well as a proprietary BookIM Book Club program that is suitable for all genres. BookIM can deliver the type of avid and dedicated readers that authors and publishers have been yearning for at a price a self-publishing author can afford. But our services don’t just end there, we’ll assist authors with everything they need to make their book a success including website and creative assistance as needed!

The BookIM marketing programs finds, engages and retains avid readers of all genres. This program is flexible, doesn’t require an annual contract and allows the author or publisher the control they need over their fans and readers. Tell BookIM your goals and we create a customized marketing campaign for your book. In short, BookIM uses our direct marketing campaigns to drive readers to the author’s preferred book distribution solution be it Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, or whatever. Our staff can show you how to maximize your results! Remember at BookIM, your success is the measure of our success!

BookIM is consulting firm that specializes on providing marketing services to self-publishing authors. We provide custom proprietary direct marketing book promotion programs with the type of affordable results that authors and publishers have been waiting for since the advent of the ebook revolution.